Home Blitz - Out Of Phase LP

Review from Terminal-boredom.comThe first Home Blitz 7" is still probably the very best out-of-nowhere unsolicited review record I've received for TB in its history. One of those "Holy shit!" moments that make doing this such a pleasure. They're few and far between, but it's the promise of finding some kid from the middle of nowhere making great and weird music that you can't wait to talk about that keeps me going at times. In the couple of years since that record I've learned more about Daniel Dimaggio and who he is vicariously via the internet, and it hasn't made his music any less interesting. 'Out of Phase' is his first actual full length LP, and I'm pleased that he's come this far. It's always difficult to describe his music, and I still feel like I've never done it justice in words. Fractured pop songs. Eccentric garage. Off-kilter indie rock. Loner punk. I think saying it's a record by a college kid from New Jersey whose favorite band is Game Theory is a good and befuddling catch-all. 'OOP' is a dozen tracks showcasing Dimaggio's quite distinct songwriting voice. "Nest of Vipers" opens the record in punk-style, jam packed with bottles breaking, tape warble and a familiar-sounding guitar riff. A fake blues intro begins "Two Steps" before it turns into a jubilant pop song and one of his tightest compostions to date. "Route 18" reminds me of something off The Clap LP. "A Different Touch" is heavy and blown-out riff rock noise. "Nightime Feel" is rough and hooky garage rock. And there's a Cock Sparrer cover to boot. There's not a bad track here, including a couple "field recordings" from the streets of NJ, which on a lesser records could be called toss offs, but here enhance the intimate feel. Dimaggio is seems more focused and sure of himself than ever on this LP, mastering his idiosyncratic rock'n'roll craft. No posturing, just straight from the hip/heart songs whose perhaps primitive outward appearance reveal layer upon layer of craftmanship and uncommonly exuberant and personal music. There's something pure about Home Blitz to me. In the past I've compared him to personalities like Lou Barlow, Jad Fair and Jonathan Richman, and even though he may actually sound like them at times, I think it has more to do with the directness of their music, the purity of it, that it comes to you emotionally and musically undiluted. All great music comes directly from the gut, and I think Dimaggio comes at you with such moxie, such honest character that it can't help but be endearing. Uplifting and exciting music that reinforces the fact that great rock music can come from anywhere, even the most unlikely sources, as long as the spirit is there. Home Blitz is one of the high points of the decade for me, a punk band, a garage band, a pop band, all these things at once and in a way that you've never heard before. Life affirming music, and this is his best outing so far. Finally out on vinyl now as well, so I can stop listening to this damn CD.(RK)(Richie Records // testostertunes.bllogspor.com)